


I Opened Up My Heart And Said This Much I'll Allow

by OwenToDawn



Series: 15 Day Lyric Challenge [11]
Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Character Study, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:36:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwenToDawn/pseuds/OwenToDawn
Summary: Minho flushes. “Sorry. Got distracted.”Seungyoon smiles and Minho’s heart flips. “The flowers are pretty, aren’t they?”Minho stares at the way the setting sun makes Seungyoon’s face glow in a warm and soothing light. “Yeah, they are.”





	I Opened Up My Heart And Said This Much I'll Allow

**Author's Note:**

> This was a TRIAL to finish because I lost a quarter of it and had to rewrite it in the last few hours to meet the deadline. I'm not super happy with how this turned out because I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with it but I hope you enjoy it anyways. I want to write more of these two in the future. 
> 
> The lyric prompt for today was "The brightest light may shine ahead/But I thought I’d have some answers by now" from Answers by Eels. The title was from the same song. 
> 
> Comments are loved!

After spending so long being followed all over in Korea, it’s odd to be left alone once leaving the airport in the States. It’s like traveling back in time in a way.

It makes Minho wonder if this is what being in a relationship with Seungyoon would’ve been like if they had never debuted. Walking through a quiet park in Seattle, hands entwined. He can stare at Seungyoon’s face all he wants without worrying if he’s being overly obvious about how _fucking_ in love he is.

He’s so busy staring, he trips over his own feet.

Seungyoon stops him from falling, hauling him upright. “Careful! You can’t hurt yourself before our first show.”

Minho flushes. “Sorry. Got distracted.”

Seungyoon smiles and Minho’s heart flips. “The flowers are pretty, aren’t they?”

Minho stares at the way the setting sun makes Seungyoon’s face glow in a warm and soothing light. “Yeah, they are.”

-.-

_Before_

Seungyoon has no issue with being the adult in the room. He’s always slid into such a role with ease and while Minho had cried when the leadership had been moved from him to Seungyoon, it had been for the best. Minho had crawled into his bed that night and confessed in a shaky voice that the pressure had been too much.

“I’m sorry for not being stronger,” he’d whispered.

Looking back, Seungyoon’s pretty sure that’s when he’d fallen in love. Back then, he’d just been overwhelmed by a deep need to hold Minho close and shield him from anyone who tried to say he wasn’t good enough.

It took practice, but he got used to being the one with answers. He guided them through recording sessions, through fights, through Taehyun’s departure. He was the youngest sure, but you read enough self-help books and you can have an answer to almost anything. But even with that he’s entirely unsure of how to answer the question of how to date your bandmate turned boyfriend under the microscope of a country’s entertainment industry.

"Why do you think I left?” Taehyun tells him over the phone. “I wanted to live my life.”

“Can’t we have both?” Seunghyoon asks, staring up at the dorm ceiling as his heart pounds out an anxious rhythm.

“You don’t have to have a solution ready all the time,” Taehyun says. “Minho’s an adult. Talk it out.”

Seungyoon swallows, throat tight. “What if he chooses his career over me?”

“Are you kidding? Anyone who knows you can see he’d give up everything for you,” Taehyun says. “It’s a little disgusting, but then, Minho’s always been the most passionate out of us all.”

He’s right. Seungyoon just isn’t sure what Minho’s most passionate about.

-.-

Minho lets out what is probably an overdramatic groan as he steps inside the small painting shop in downtown Chicago. His face feels tingly, his fingers numb, but the point is, he has arranged for his and Seungyoon’s date afternoon and he bought out the entire afternoon session to make it happen.

Seungyoon spent so much time worrying about what they did on their own without Jinwoo or Seunghoon to accompany them, constantly trying to make sure they were putting the right image out there. But with the frigid ice cold and being in a foreign country that barely knew who they were...it gave him the ability to take that worry from him. He can plan whatever dates he wants. The cold and the language barrier will keep people away.

"Where are we?" Seungyoon asks as he takes his scarf off.

"It's a paint place where they teach you how to do famous paintings," Minho says. "I bought out the whole session so it's just us. So we can...it's a date."

He flushes when Seungyoon's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yeah. The lady who runs it says she doesn't speak Korean but that it's mostly just following along so..." Minho shrugs. "I...is it okay? If you want to go back to the hotel we can."

Seungyoon grabs Minho's hand in his and squeezes it. "Of course I want to stay. And not just because going outside again could kill me."

Minho shoves him with a laugh, delighting in the genuine grin that blossoms over Seungyoon's face. He hesitates just a moment before kissing him as he smiles. Because he can. He watches Seungyoon's eyes go big and wide again and then he reaches up to rest a cold hand against Minho's neck, eyes sliding shut as he kisses him back.

A cough interrupts them and the rest of Minho's chilled face warms under a blush as he turns to face their teacher, but she just smiles at them and sets her armful of supplies down on the table.

"Well come on then, we don't have all day!"

-.-

_Before_

Seungyoon bites his lip for what's likely the twentieth time that night, sucking it into his mouth and letting it go as he checks his notes again. There's a soft knock on his bedroom door and Minho shuffles in dressed in one of his old shirts that's too wide in the shoulders and a pair of old boxers.

"Why are you still up?" Minho asks, crawling into bed with him and pulling his tablet away. "What is this?"

Seungyoon sits up with a sigh. "I'm trying to get down what I want to say to our fans in English. If I don't, then we might look stupid or they'll think we don't care and I do I just need to...know what I want to say and practice it and-"

Minho clicks his tablet off and reaches out to hold both of Seungyoon's hands in his own. Seungyoon takes a deep breath, ignoring the ache in his chest.

"Hey," Minho says. "It's okay. You're going to make yourself worrying about it this hard."

"I know I just..." He shakes his head and reaches across Minho for the tablet. "I need to finish this."

"No, you don't," Minho says, moving the tablet to the night stand. "Come here."

Seungyoon isn't used to being manhandled in bed, but he's too tired to fight as Minho pushes him around and wiggles them both under the covers. Usually he's the big spoon too, but this time Minho presses up against his back and loops an arm around his waist before sliding a hand up under his sweatshirt to run his finger tips over his abdomen. He lets out a sigh and relaxes into it. It's easier when Minho kisses the back of his neck.

"It's going to be okay," Minho says. "Hoony and I will help tomorrow. You're not alone, Yoonie. I never meant for you to feel like you are."

"I just don't want to make you worry," Seungyoon says.

"You're not alone in this," Minho says. "I love you."

Seungyoon closes his eyes. "I love you too."

He feels Minho smile against the back of his neck before the exhaustion pulls him away.

-.-

"Hey, where's your script?" Hoony teases Seungyoon from across the dressing room as they finish getting their hair done.

Minho resists the urge to throw one of the make up brushes at him. He'd worked so hard to make Seungyoon relax that afternoon, and even had two mock Van Gough pieces to show for it. He didn't want it all undone because Hoony couldn't keep his comments to himself.

"I don't need it tonight," Seungyoon says. He meets Minho's eyes in the mirror and smiles. "I'll figure it out as I go, and if I mess up, that's what you guys are for."


End file.
